Get premium membership and access questions with answers, video lessons as well as revision papers.

Ways of Improving Communication Skills

  

Date Posted: 7/21/2017 10:26:05 AM

Posted By: alfievinie  Membership Level: Silver  Total Points: 107


First and foremost,you really have to listen. Listening greatly differs from hearing. Hearing is the act of receiving sound while listening is the ability to retain information as well as react emphatically to the spoken message. Listening is the very most and key point of communication. You really have to listen keenly by paying attention to what the other person is saying without interrupting. This will help you to go in hand with the most key points said. You will not have to ask questions for clarification since you will have understood better.

Secondly, always be concise and clear while communicating. To be clear means being specific rather than being vague while communicating so that you will not be misunderstood. This is mainly achieved by using familiar words and avoiding use of technical terms. Being concise on the other hand means expressing or conveying much in few words; which are brief in form but comprehensive in scope. Avoid use of convoluted sentences. Try to state them in a direct language. This will make your message understandable and comprehensible. Before speaking, ”ask yourself ,”What is the clearest way I can make my point?”

In addition always try to put away all the distractions while communicating. Distractions are obstacles that hinder effective communication. It’s pretty rude to use a phone while someone is talking to you or you are supposed to be hanging out with them. It’s also bad to listen to music or watch a movie while someone is talking to you. It is bad and gross. I know it’s hard to get rid of our distractions or put away with our technology but just taking a moment of what your fellow student is saying will effectively improve our communication.

Think before you speak. By organizing your thoughts in advance will

eliminate many of the awkward pauses that occur while speaking. This also help you to be clear and concise while relaying the information to the audience. Your audience won’t have to ask you questions for further clarification. Writing down the points is still important since you will take little time to organize your thoughts in your mind before you begin to speak.

Moreover, think about the perspective of your audience while communicating. The fact that you have a strong command or you have a proper knowledge of the subject you are talking doesn’t mean that your audience has the same knowledge as you. Put yourself in their shoes. Try to think about how someone without the clue of the subject you are talking will understand what you are trying to communicate. This will help you to communicate effectively and efficiently.

Consider you audibility while communicating. It is one of the key points of improving our communication skills. Audibility means being louder and clear enough. Being audible enough helps you to pass the message you are trying to get across to your audience. Inaudibility makes your audience from paying attention to what you are saying. Some might even start using their phone or dozing due to your inaudibility. It is good to be audible so the pronunciation of words can be hard clearly .This will make your communication easy since you will not waste time clarifying some points which have not being heard clearly.

While communicating ,train yourself to tailor you message to your audience. The best communicators adjust how they talk based on whom they are speaking to. If you are speaking to children ,for instance, you will use different styles of communicating as compared to when you are addressing an audience made up of grown-ups. You will be forced to tell them stories which will make them laugh .This will in turn draw their attention to you. Always try to keep the other person’s perspective in mind when getting your message across.

Practice tone variation. Tone variation I depends on the message you are trying to pass. Speaking in a monotone voice is a sure way of boring your audience. Instead use a voice inflection to add emphasis to important points and vary your voice to express emotions such as sadness and fear. This will help you to keep in touch with your audience hence understand it better.
Train yourself to tell stories often. Stories are powerful. They activate our brains, make presentations sulk in mind, make us persuasive and even can help us in our interviews. The more one tells stories before an audience, the more one builds his or her courage to stand before people and speak. You will not tend to be shy while standing before an audience.



Next: Importance of Maintaining a Positive Attitude in Daily Life
Previous: How to commit yourself to God

More Resources
Quick Links
Kenyaplex On Facebook


Kenyaplex Learning